


gentle affection

by WhimsicalMercy



Series: MCYT December except it's not festive [6]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Dream loves ALL of his friends and that includes Tommy, Family Member Death, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, It's okay because his friends love him, Men Crying, Sad TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:53:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27927058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhimsicalMercy/pseuds/WhimsicalMercy
Summary: Tommy had never been to a funeral before today and it was just as bad as he thought it would be.Otherwise known as Tommy goes to a funeral and desperately tries to convince himself and his friends that he's okay afterward. Luckily, his friends know him better than that.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: MCYT December except it's not festive [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036191
Comments: 17
Kudos: 410





	gentle affection

**Author's Note:**

> Day six was "Family/Friend death + Comfort" and hooo boy. I enjoyed writing this one, but it does make me nervous to post because this is based more on the IRL aspects of the creators' lives. Obviously, everything is still based off of the personas that Tommy and the others show us online and I hope it doesn't come off as disrespectful. 
> 
> TW: Death of a grandparent, not shown on screen but mentioned and implied.
> 
> All characters used in this are based purely on their fictional personas. If any of the creators decide they are not comfortable with fanworks, this work will be taken down immediately to respect their wishes. I also ask that this work is not linked anywhere or intentionally shared with any of the creators mentioned.

Tommy had never been to a funeral before today and it was just as bad as he thought it would be. The suit he wore was stiff, the room was hot and stuffy and everyone was crying. That included him, he wasn’t heartless, but it was somewhat embarrassing. He just was such an ugly crier and now people he had never met before today had seen him with a splotchy red face and a sniffly nose. Not to mention afterward, he had random adults coming up to him and crooning over him, telling him how much he had grown up and that he had gotten _so tall_. All the while, he was trying not to break down in tears again.

The ride home hadn’t been much better, with his mother talking about how nice the funeral had been and how it had been nice to see their distant relatives. He was glad his parents didn’t make him chime in, they just let him sit in silence and listen to their chatter. His mom talked about their family and how she had caught up with some cousin named Marie that he had met once when he was four. Truth be told, he wasn’t listening. It was like he was in his own bubble as he watched the scenery pass by, all sounds muted in the background. He was honestly thinking about the fact that he got the notification that most of his friends were either streaming or just online and talking on the SMP discord server.

Tubbo had gone live during one of the speeches, Wilbur during the picture slideshow and Phil and Techno had both gone live during the lunch after. He wasn’t sure if any of them were still live, but they weren’t talking in the discord like BadBoyHalo, AntFrost, Dream, and Skeppy were. He could only assume it was because they were still busy with their streams or whatever game they were playing. He hoped they were still online when he got home, he really wanted to at least talk to one of his friends, any of them. Tubbo was who he really wanted to talk to at this moment, but he would never admit that. He was just at a funeral, surely it would be normal for him to want to talk to his best friend.

His mother and father chatted until they reached home and he blinked out of his daze as they pulled up to their house. He lifted his head off of his chin and blinked, yet again, in shock. The car ride had been a good hour or so and he managed to stare outside, lost in his thoughts, for all of it. He was pretty sure he hadn’t spoken once the entire drive, but his parents seemed to excuse his lack of chatter as shock. Maybe he is in shock, but it doesn’t feel like it. All he wants is to sit down in front of his computer and talk to his friends, maybe stream.

Streaming actually sounds nice, he decides as he climbs out of the backseat of his dad’s car. He follows his parents into the house and his mom goes to let the dog out. He feels his dad clap him on the shoulder and offers a small smile. “Are you doing okay?” His dad asks him and he nods, swallowing tightly. He doesn’t think he’s doing bad, he thinks he’s okay. He’s certainly done crying, at the very least. He’s done way too much crying today and, though he feels like he could burst into tears still, he doesn’t want to cry anymore. He wants to completely drown out everything that’s happening with the sound of his and his friends’ laughter.

His dad doesn’t seem to believe it, but he doesn’t say anything and Tommy is so glad for it. Instead, he gets a firm hug and a ruffle of the hair. He’s reminded that if he needs something, that his parents are there and that they love him and it makes him want to curl up in his dad’s arms and sob. But he smiles a little wider and nods. “I know, dad. I think I’m gonna go hang with Tubbo and them for a bit, maybe stream or something. Wanna get my mind off of it for a bit.” He explains as if he’s not furiously burying his feelings. His dad warily nods and ruffles his hair again.

He passes by his mom as he heads up the stairs and gets another hug, this time accompanied by a kiss to his cheek. Rather than hamming it up and complaining like he usually would, he hugs her back, though he does utter a soft embarrassed “Mum..” in response to it. She pats his cheek and he laughs in response. Thankfully, she lets him go and he’s reminded about how great his parents really are. They never smother him and let him have his space, not to mention being supportive of his streaming and YouTube channel. 

He’s careful when shutting his door behind him, not wanting to set the dog off by the loud banging noise. His room is quiet and the silence rings in his ears. It’s suffocating him, just like the collar of his button-up is. He had bought a suit just for this occasion and he had taken care of it, but now he just tore it off in favor of throwing on some more comfortable clothes. His t-shirt and sweats seemed almost heavenly now that he had been wearing a scratchy suit for hours on end. He sank into his chair, booting up his pc and grabbing his headset. The ringing silence was drowned out by the whirring of his computer starting, his muscles relaxing as the familiar sound filled his room. 

He was quick to type in his passcode and to pull up discord, checking the few servers he was in. A few new things had been posted on the MCC server, but they didn’t seem too pressing so he lazily skipped those. Scott Smajor could wait a bit. He opened the Dream SMP discord and noticed a few voice calls going. George and Quackity in one, Tubbo, Fundy, and Phil in another. He hummed in thoughts, drifting over to his private messages. He had some from Tubbo, Wilbur, and Phil, all iterations of ‘If you need me, text me.’ Techno had also shot him a message, one that was incredibly awkward but so painfully Techno that he could tell the man was trying to be comforting. He rolls his eyes even as a stupid grin crosses his face. He really had the greatest friends, even though they were all so far apart.

He shoots them all a message back, stating that he was okay and probably going to stream a little to get his mind off of the events of today. It’s probably a stupid idea, especially since he feels like glass, but streaming is what he likes to do. It’s one of the few things that he thinks about constantly, alongside his schoolwork and Youtube videos that he needs to edit. Sometimes, he’s actually concerned with how much he thinks about his streams and his videos, but then he’s reminded that it’s how he makes money and that it’s what he’s structured his life around as of right now.

There’s rapid pinging and he looks up to check his messages. He’s got four back, all private messages.

_**WilburSoot** _  
_That is a dumb idea  
I really wouldn't stream_

_**Philza**_  
_Uhhhhhhh I dunno Tommy. Maybe take the rest of the day off dude._

_**Tubbo**_  
_yeah no dont  
like seriously idk but it seems like a bad idea :/_

**Technoblade**  
_Do whatever makes you feel better, I guess. Just take a break or something if you need._

He huffs at all four responses. It causes a spike of irritation, despite the fact that he knows they’re just thinking of him. He’s fine though, he doesn’t need a day off. He doesn’t have to stream the SMP, doesn’t even need to stream with other people. He just… needs something right now. His fingers twitch over his keyboard, hovering over the keys in a small moment of hesitation. Truth be told, he isn’t actually sure if streaming was a good idea, but he needed to be productive. He couldn’t just sit here and wallow in pity when he had things he could be doing.

He sends back reassurances and gets back more arguing, though Techno doesn’t respond past an _‘Okay.’_ It was the other three that seemed to be on his case. He has a feeling Techno is somewhere in the background, probably exchanging screenshots with the others. It wouldn’t surprise him if Techno had spreadsheets on them and how to tell if they were upset with receipts to back stuff up, the guy was caring in the weirdest way. He was just glad that he wasn’t as overbearing as the other three were. Not that he didn’t appreciate it, it just wasn’t what he needed right now. He was fine, he didn’t need a break. 

They went back and forth for a bit until his discord pinged again. He huffed again, drifting over to the new message. He paused for a second, blinking. It wasn’t Tubbo, Phil, or Wilbur like he expected. It wasn’t even Techno, which wouldn’t have been a shock either. 

_**Dream**_  
_hey  
vc real quick?_

His heart rate briefly jumped and he rubbed over his face. He hadn’t said anything in the Dream SMP chat for a day or so, so if it was in relation to the server, it had to be some plot point Dream had come up with. That was something he really couldn’t avoid. He sighed loudly and reached over to pull his mic close. He took a deep breath and forced his shoulders to relax. 

_**TommyInnit**  
sure_

As soon as he sent that message, a call was incoming which caught him off guard. Apparently, this was important seeing as Dream had been just sitting around waiting for his message. He hoped he hadn’t actually done something wrong regarding the actual server rules. He thought back to the past few days and decided that, no, he really hadn’t pissed anyone off. He swallowed back his anxiety and accepted the call. “Hey, big man! What’s up?” He chirped, cringing at how hoarse his voice sounded. Probably from earlier.

There was a brief pause on Dream’s end and he felt a spike of worry. _Had_ he done something wrong? He was usually pretty good at handling being told off, especially since everyone was barely older than him. That was normal. Right now he wasn’t quite sure if he could handle being told to calm down, to stop bugging someone. Whatever he had done, he was hoping that it was something he could just deal with for now. He really didn’t need to break down in front of a friend of his, someone he even looked up to.

“-ommy! Hey, Tommy, hey, what’s the matter?” He blinked out of his reverie, shaking his head. He was suddenly very aware of how fast he was breathing, how his hands shook and how he was most certainly on a call with Dream right now and he was making a fool out of himself. He did that a lot but it was usually for some sort of bit. This wasn’t a bit, they weren’t joking and he wasn’t trying to be annoying. He took a long, shuddery breath and blinked rapidly. Dream was still speaking to him, more in a ramble now. Just his name and telling him that it was okay, that he needed to breathe. 

He forced a laugh out of his lungs and swallowed. “Yeah, uh, breathing is kinda good, isn’t it?” He tried to joke, cutting off Dream’s soothing mantra. He inhaled through his nose again. “Like I said, what’s up? I’m about to stream and-”

“Uh, no, Tommy. You can’t stream like this. You sounded like… like you were on the verge of a panic attack or something, man.” Dream cut him off and he heard his own jaw click shut. He swallowed before opening his mouth again. Dream seemed to catch on and a sigh crackled over the call. “Listen, uh, we’re all worried about you. Today was... You just got back from a funeral, man. I think a day’s break from streaming would be good. We can all still hang out and chat, but I don’t think being live in front of thousands of people would be good.” He explained and Tommy grit his teeth.

He hated this, he didn’t want pity and he didn’t want to be coddled. He wasn’t a little kid and didn’t need to be treated like such. He spat that out at Dream and earned a light laugh. “No, see. No. We’re not saying that just ‘cause you’re 16. I would’ve said that to Phil and he’s literally twice your age. We’re saying it because we care about you and you need to take a bit to just chill out from today.” The American explained in a soft tone. Tommy’s chest squeezed. “Me, Tubbo, Wilbur, Phil, Techno, and everyone else. We knew today would be rough. It’s okay, dude. This kind of shit sucks. You don’t need to hide that from us. We’re your friends” Dream’s tone grew softer still, gentle, but he wasn’t making Tommy feel belittled.

It was... Affectionate. Dream wasn’t being gentle with him because he thought Tommy was a kid or that he couldn’t take it, he was being gentle with him because he cared about him and wanted him to know that. It wasn’t condescending, he was just being nice. Tommy bit his lip, eyes burning as tears began to build up again. He sniffled a little and shook his head. “Fuck- I’m sorry, you don’t need to hear this.” He sputtered out, wiping the tears as fast as they fell. “I just- Thanks. For the, uh, reminder.”

He got another chuckle. “Of course, dude. Want me to stay on call?”

“Uh, yeah, could you?”

“Whatever you need.”

“Do you mind if I, um, if I talk a bit? About my Pops?”

“Yeah! Tell me about him!”

“Well, you see, I’m his first grandson so…”

**Author's Note:**

> Day six complete and posted on the same day as day five, sorry for the spam of fics. As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated so don't feel shy!


End file.
